Life is a series of challenges
Anytime you want do do anything, you have barriers to deal with. If you don’t beat them, they’ll beat you.
If you’re competing, sure, you have to beat the other guy, but before you can beat anyone else, you’ve got to “beat” yourself first.
I’ve met my enemy—and my enemy is me
Whenever you get an idea of something you want to do, you survey the scene, get the issues on the table, nail down the things you’ll have to deal with to get what you want. Immediately, you plan to knock out each and every obstacle so you can reach your goal. But there’s one that everyone tends to overlook, themselves.
The problem is, we are human
We have our strengths and weaknesses. When we lock in on something we want, it’s natural to think in terms of all the resources, contacts, talents and skills we have to get things done. But how about our weaknesses? If you don’t plan to neutralize them you can wind up defeating yourself. When the pressure comes, we often start to unravel, we can lose focus, we can lose our enthusiasm. If we fall behind schedule, worry can set in, we can get negative, blaming others, overthink things and doubt ourselves.
Athletes do it all the time
In pressure situations, some get worried, nervous and lose their rhythm. One of the things you hear athletes say is “I just need to get out of my own way.” What they are referring to is that they have let the situation overwhelm them and they have started to lose control.
Why do superior athletes and teams regularly get beat by inferior competition?
They defeat themselves! They may not have prepared. They may have over-prepared. They may have let some side issues distract them. Any one of a hundred different things could come in and cause them to deliver an inferior performance. Result? They lose…or more accurately…they defeat themselves! It happens all the time.
Just because you’re better doesn’t mean you’ll win
It’s infuriating to be your own enemy, but when you have things you want, things you know you can achieve, You are going to have to go get it. You have to make it happen and the first thing you have to do is make DEAD SURE is that you don’t defeat yourself.
You’ll make mistakes
The trick is to prepare so you can MINIMIZE them! Because the other guy will make mistakes too. You just don’t want to knock yourself out early and not be able to capitalize on them. Stay alert and don’t just ASSUME you’ll be at your best. Take the extra effort to MAKE SURE that will happen.
